Hunt Family Connection

Happy School Psychology Awareness Week!

For those of you that don't know, I'm a School Psychologist (and have a recently renewed license to prove it!) and this week we are being celebrated :)

From the NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) website:

The theme of this year’s School Psychology Awareness Week, "Today is a good day to… SHINE!" focuses on shining a light on the positive work school psychologists do to promote students’ academic and personal success.

I was assessed by a School Psychologist when I was in grade school, and it made an impression. Years later when asked what I wanted to do, I thought back to that experience and thought I might want to do what she did. So I went back and talked to that School Psychologist several times as I was making decisions about school and career - I was even lucky enough to do my first practicum experience with her. I still keep in contact and just met with her while I was in Wisconsin this last summer. I'm guessing she doesn't realize how much she has impacted my life, so I think I'll send an email today to remind her she's the reason I got into this in the first place....that seems like a good way to celebrate our week!

I love what I do (well, most of it!) Of course there are things about my job that I don't enjoy, but the part I enjoy most is working with children and their families. I work in elementary schools, so I often work with families as they are first learning about the struggles their child might be experiencing. I love working with kids to watch and see how they learn....I love being able to share the things I've discovered with the team - to help explain what might be happening and how we can better support this student. And while it's not always easy to deliver this information, I feel good about my ability to work with parents as they come to terms with what's happening with their child.

Yesterday I worked with a student who struggles with writing and spelling. One of the tests I gave him was a spelling test. When we started the spelling test I noticed a definite change in his behavior - he became more attentive and really interested in doing his absolute best. He told me he wanted to get 100% so he could have an ice cream treat. When I explained that it really wasn't that kind of test, and that no one ever gets 100%, he started to tear up a little bit. He said he has a deal with his parents that if he gets 100% on a spelling test he can have an ice cream treat....he mentioned that he hadn't had ice cream in a long, long time. Now, he might have been totally playing me, but me might not have been. In an attempt to keep him from falling apart on me, I offered to call his parents after we finished working, and let them know how hard he worked with me (we had done many other tests prior to the spelling test) - I said I couldn't promise he would get an ice cream treat, but I would pass along the fact that he put forth a great deal of effort :)  He happily gave me his phone number.....I tried several times throughout the day and even made a call around dinner time. No one answered any of the times that I called.....but I plan to keep trying. Yesterday I also met with two separate sets of parents that are asking for help in figuring out what's happening with their children. They are both going to be a bit complicated and involved, and both sets of parents seem completely exhausted and confused by what's happening with their children. I'm looking forward to learning more about these students and helping the team form a plan that will make their school experiences better (both the students' and the parents' experiences with the school!)

Working with children and families is only part of what I do. I've been reading a very fun blog by a School Psychologist in California, and this week she has been doing some "day in the life" posts that show what other kinds of things we do. I'd encourage you to check it out - even if you're not terribly interested in School Psychologists, she's a great writer and her posts often make me laugh - Notes from the School Psychologist.

And if you know a School Psychologist, maybe you could make a point of telling them how awesome they are this week....we really don't get a lot of that in the work that we do :)

A couple of fun finds…

While I was doing my shopping at Ross the other day, I found a couple of things that were not on my list…

The green and white bag is actually a lunch bag – a nice and sizey one at that :)  The lunch bag I have is a little small and has some rips in it – I decided that having a new lunch bag would make me feel better about going back to work when it’s time. It might even encourage me to carry my lunch more often!

The little pink pocket book is pretty cute too, right?? Look at what’s inside…

…it’s a photo album!  I’ve decided to use it for a baby Sprout brag book and have already stashed a few ultrasound pictures in there.  I will have a few more pictures to put in there before she comes as the doctor scheduled another ultrasound for us at 38 weeks – yay!

Oh – and in the spirit of our new uncluttered and more organized way of life, I immediately put the old lunch bag in the Goodwill pile.

Much Better and Weekend in the Life

So things are definitely looking up – today is Friday and we have a long holiday weekend ahead of us. Even better…there were no “poopy” incidents yesterday!

We don’t have any big plans to go anywhere for the Memorial Day weekend – just plan to enjoy the beautiful weather they are predicting. I do think I want to take on the “weekend in the life” project that Ali Edwards suggested last weekend. 

I’ll keep notes and pictures on my blog throughout the weekend, then decide what format to scrap it all in….then will add to my “Week in the Life” album.  Already in my album is my first “Week in the Life” project which you can peek at HERE.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend – stay tuned for many details of ours!

Happy New Year and My Word

Hope everyone is having a relaxing start to the new year! I've decided on the word I'm choosing to focus on this coming year....

PRESENT is the word, but I wouldn't want anyone to get confused and think that they should be giving me things - adding the "be" in front clarifies the meaning a bit. To further clarify, I found a couple of quotes that seem quite appropriate...

"Live in the present - one day at a time is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future for it has not yet come. Live in the present and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering!"

Author Unknown

"Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy."

Sarah Ban Breathnach

It's similar to last year's word (ENJOY), but seems a little more focused to me. I have never been very good at being in the moment....being PRESENT and just experiencing what is happening at the time. It's hard to not dwell on the past or worry about the future. I intend to be very aware of this during the coming year and will do my best to live in the PRESENT and enjoy each moment as it comes.

I'm doing a pretty good job of being PRESENT at the moment - really enjoying and relishing my time here with family. The week has gone by very fast and we only have a couple of more days before returning to Oregon. We will be sad to leave everyone here, but will also look forward to seeing Wil - G often asks about going home or wonders where daddy is....

I'm off to edit some more Christmas pictures and tidy my desktop a bit - good organizational fun!

Winter Break Starts Today!

One more snow day called this morning and we are officially on winter break - woo hoo!  This was the scene here this morning....

When the sun came out, it was just STUNNING outside. I tried to get a couple of pictures, but these just don't do it justice.

Graham slept in this morning - we had breakfast together when he was finally ready to get up and start the day.

After breakfast I asked him if he would like to go play with his friends at daycare and see Miss Sabrina - every time I asked, he said, "yeah" so I brushed the snow off the van and slowly made our way to Miss Sabrina's house. His day was full of playing with his little friends, crafting with play doh, and playing in the snow at the park - big fun!! I'm told he wasn't too interested in napping, which would explain why he fell asleep on us at 5:30 tonight. His "power nap" did a lot of good and put him in a great mood to get him through the rest of the night. We went to the mall to do a little Christmas shopping, then picked up some dinner on the way home. After dinner we hung out in the living room playing and watching Jeopardy. Graham only had to take one time out for messing with the tree - which was really good because I put ornaments on it today and made it a very tempting play-thing :)

One more fun thing about today that I'd like to share.... In addition to a handful of Christmas cards, this was in our mailbox:

Thank you Carrie (my sister-in-law) for the yummy Christmas goodies - we broke into it after dinner tonight :)  We put Wil's present under the tree to open on Christmas Eve, and I have the perfect little Christmas duck friend for this one you sent - Graham is going to love 'em!

Mum-Mum and Pop-Pop come tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with us and stay for a couple of nights - we're looking forward to seeing them and hope that the weather cooperates.

Much to be thankful for....

Just a thought today, as I rush around trying to prepare for the holidays and get everything done. I attended a meeting yesterday afternoon for a child in one of my schools. He is a foster child and has been waiting for his "forever family" for far too long - in fact that was what most of the meeting was supposed to be about and the most important person to the topic (the adoption placement worker from human services) didn't bother to show up and wouldn't answer her phone.

I can only imagine how difficult every day is for this student, not knowing where he will be or what kind of family he will be placed with or when....so much uncertainty and unknown. The foster parent mentioned how difficult the holidays are for the children she cares for and it made me very sad for them - in this crazy situation through no fault of their own. These aren't the kinds of things a child should have to worry or think about....

Meetings like this remind me to be thankful for all that I have been blessed with. My childhood was worry-free and full of love and comfort....I still have the unconditional love and support of my parents and extended family. I have a wonderful husband who will help me provide the same for Graham and any other children we are blessed with.  No matter how busy and crazy life/work gets, at the end of the day I already have everything that is important.

I think this holiday season I will be looking for a way to get involved and in some small way make a difference for these kids.

Fun Mail from Nana

Yesterday afternoon, this was waiting for us in our mailbox....

A "Happy St. Nick!" box filled with goodies from Nana (my mom). The box was filled with real peanuts in the shell (not packing peanuts!), a bottle of salad dressing I can't get in the stores here, a package of cherry chips so I can make one of my favorite Christmas cookies, and a very fun hat for G that my mom made...

Of course Graham likes to do everything himself, so this was his attempt to get the hat on :)

The package was a fun thing to come home to - THANKS for all of the goodies Nana and Happy St. Nick to you too!

Home alone....

....and not quite sure what I think of it!

Wil and Graham just left for a little trip to the coast to visit Grandma and Grandpa Spady. It will be the first night the Graham and I are apart, so I'm a little nervous about missing him.  I'm also a bit excited to have the house all to myself - that hasn't happened in a long time! Tomorrow morning I won't have to get up between 4 and 5am to feed G - that's pretty cool :)

How long they stay will depend on how well Graham is doing - we'll see what happens.

As for how I will spend my time....I have a few ideas ;) 

• I'm taking a class called Library of Memories at Big Picture Scrapbooking and I have some "homework" that I'd like to do for that
• A nice, long, hot bath sounds like a good treat - I might even finish the book I'm currently reading - "Eat, Pray, Love"
• Eating meals when I want - no need to fit them around anyone else's schedule
• Definitely trying to sleep in tomorrow morning - no rush to get out of bed
• And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm sure I won't be able to stop myself from doing some picking up and cleaning while the house is free of distractions

he's pretty cool...

First, some pictures I took over the weekend. I especially love the one on the right, 'cause it's a look I see often on him......what can I get into next?!  He's exploring EVERYTHING these days (which is a very good and normal part of the learning process I keep telling myself) and getting around so much more. He used to need to stay in the room with us, but lately he's been crawling and cruising all over the house, whether we are there or not. We are making good use of the gates we have :)

We had a nice weekend - the weather was beautiful on Saturday so we went out for a long walk in the neighborhood. Sunday wasn't quite as nice, but we went out to get some things at Fred Meyer. Graham seems to really enjoy riding around in the front of the cart like a big boy!  He doesn't really care for the moments when the cart stops though...gotta keep moving!

We found some new foods/snacks to try:

From their website...

"Rice rusks have been an essential part of a toddler's diet in the Orient for over a century. Today, Baby Mum-Mum rice rusks are
available in America, Europe and Australia. Baby Mum-Mum is       the ideal "first snack" because of their great taste, wholesome
ingredients and nutritional value. If your child loves Bab Mum-Mum and you are happy with the quality of our rice rusks, please share them with your friends."

So there you have it - they come in original and vegetable "flavors" (I use that term loosely as I tried one of the originals and it tasted like nothing!)  Graham likes 'em - easy to eat and hang on to.

The other thing I found were these yummy little microwavable meals from Hormel

Product Description

Hormel® Kid's Kitchen® Microwave Meals are delicious shelf-stable entrees that are quick, convenient and easy to prepare. Nutrition experts consider the microwave meals a good source of protein for kids, and the kid-friendly variety of flavors makes them ideal for tasty snacks, lunches and dinners.

They have a bunch of different varieties but I picked up the Noodle Rings & Chicken and Spaghetti Rings & Franks. Graham really liked the Spaghetti Rings (not so much the franks) - we'll be trying the noodles with chicken sometime this week.

We also picked up some plain graham crackers - those went over well too :)


Wil has been sick and has a horrible cough - he claims it's getting better, but it still sounds pretty awful to me. Graham has a little bit of a cough too, but it's not interfering with his sleeping and he's not running a fever or anything so I'm not too concerned yet.

Last thing for today....look what starts tomorrow:

Yipppeeee!  It feels a little strange because this is usually a sure sign that summer has arrived. I'm assuming they are putting it on now because of the writer strike....
Here's what I've heard....

"This year's twist is the 'soulmate' factor. Before they moved into the Big Brother house, each contestant took a love/compatibility test and will be paired up with another Big Brother contestant that is their 'soulmate' according to the results of their tests.

Each 'team' will be playing in the competitions together, sleeping in the same bed together, getting nominated together and eventually will be evicted together. (Or will they?)"

Cheesy??  Yes, definitely....but I do love it! 

Happy Fat Tuesday!

You have to love a holiday that encourages people to eat mass quantities of food...
I'll still be eating my lean cuisine pizza for lunch, but I do plan to visit my friend Leila tonight and fix us a yummy dinner that definitely includes "comfort carbs".  I'm most excited though to meet the newest addition to Graham's group of little playmates - Matthew! 

More good news to report - over the weekend my mom got a plane ticket to come stay with us during spring break.  It will hopefully be a more relaxing visit than her last one here when she was helping after Graham's arrival. I'll definitely be on the lookout for fun stuff going on while she is here.

Graham has another little tooth sprouting up which I think brings us to a total of 7. We also started brushing those little tiny teeth last night - he's not really sure what he thinks about that whole experience. We have also noticed that G is starting to try and stand more on his own. He'll be standing next to something and then all of a sudden let go. He stands on his own for just a fraction of a second or so, and then lands right on his bottom. It's kind of funny how one day, seemingly out of the blue, they just decide to try something new like that.